


Fantastic Beasts:The Downfall of Grindelwald

by orphan_account



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Alcohol, Blood and Injury, Dancing and Singing, Drinking, Driving, Drunk Dancing, Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Ilvermorny, Road Trips, Sibling Love, Sibling Rivalry, Singing, Slow Dancing, Smoking, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Undercover As Prostitute, Undercover Missions, Undercover as Married, Undercover as a Couple, Violence, World War I
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:06:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23824291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Florence Sallow is an Irishwoman now living in London. She met her two best friends, Theseus and Newt when they were about to be stationed on the Front. Now, many years later, and the only female auror at the Ministry, she is determined to make Grindelwald a fool.But at what cost?Florence, Theseus, Newt, Tina, Jacob, Nagini and Kama are going to have to put everything they have into defeating Grindelwald. But they will remain happy if its the last thing they do."Here's to being human. Unlike him."
Relationships: Newt Scamander & Theseus Scamander & Original Female Character(s), Queenie Goldstein/Jacob Kowalski, Theseus Scamander/Original Female Character(s), Tina Goldstein & Newt Scamander, Tina Goldstein/Newt Scamander
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1. The Rally That Killed

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfic will be dealing with adult themes so just be aware.
> 
> My character, Florence Sallow, id based off of the musician Florence Welch in appearance and singing voice. All other tidbits are of my own creation.
> 
> I don't want to say too much so I hope you enjoy xx

"Miss Sallow! Miss Sallow, please listen to me!” The Minister of Magic jogged after the orange-haired witch as she ran down the corridor that housed the Head Auror offices. This particular witch had just been told that a fleet of aurors had been sent to the exact Grindelwald rally that she had advised them to leave well alone unless they wanted to lose many young aurors. Of course, they didn’t listen to her. Being the only female auror had its faults. 

“Miss Sallow-” 

“What Fawley? What is it ye want to say?" her Irish voice crawled out of her slender throat as she twirled around on the carpet beneath her feet. "How about ‘I am very sorry Florence, I should have listened to ye, now I am going to lose many of my best aurors because I didn’t want to listen to ONE BLOODY WOMAN!’ There is no excuse for it Fawley. Ye made a mistake that I am going to have to try and fix! My three best friends are there Fawley and I am going to save 'em!” She screamed at him, waves crashing around inside her blue-green irises. She turned around and continued running. She wore a black, satin, button-downed dress that reached the middle of her shins. She wasn’t meant to be going into the field today. The fabric, although not fitted, was still tight around her legs and she ran and split up her left leg up to the middle of her thigh.

“Miss Sallow I don’t want you going over there!” He yelled after her, following her into the forest-green auditorium that was lined with fireplaces.

She turned around at the last second inside the fireplace with the powder in her hands. She smirked. “Don't give one. The French Ministry of Magic” Then she was gone.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  
  


She heard the rumbling and felt the heat of the flames before she could see them, the sounds of disapparating flung around her ears as she ran up the steps in the cemetery, appearing next to her close friend Leta, her once neat brown hair now fallen around her shoulder. She had disapparated from the French Ministry and into the cemetery before she even had a chance to catch her breath. They gave each other a knowing look before turning to face the scene before them. The looked over at the people left in the circle. Two faces stood out to her; Theseus and Newt Scamander, but she didn’t know who the others were besides Credence, Grindelwald and his closest followers who disapparated in a tunnel of black smoke. Aurors stood behind Theseus while the silver-haired man spoke with pure evil radiating out from his skin.

“Aurors. Join me in this circle. Pledge your eternal allegiance. Or die. Only here shall you know freedom, only here shall you know yourself.” he sent up the blue flames to her work colleges with a smooth wave of his wand and she heard Theseus shouting at his men to move. She watched as many of her friends turn to ash, their screams becoming silent. “Play by the rules. No cheating children.” More and more of the people she knew fell away from life and into the waiting arms of death as the blue flames slithered around frantically. 

Credence struggled against a female friend, their words muted to her ears. She watched Newt shout the name of the young man, practically a child, running towards him with his dammed suitcase in his hand and his wand firing counterspells. She watched on helpless as the young man’s shaven head entered the circle and Newt fall to the floor against the power of the flames.

“Queenie. Queenie, you gotta wake up.” She heard an Americans voice and turned to watch another brown-haired man, who had a face once full of happiness and love, now full of uncertainty, try to control a beautiful, blonde woman. He struggled to keep her in his arms while Grindlewald embraced Credence in the middle of the tomb.

“WALK WITH ME!” the blonde screamed at the man, then she turned and walked into the flames, clutching at herself as a silent scream flew from the depths of her throat before she was fully accepted. She didn't look like she belonged in the atmosphere of that wicked man, her face to bright and her hair to pure. But who really belonged in such a place. The American man looked on in horror.

“Queenie!” A woman, clad in a dark leather coat and short bobbed hair attempted to battle against the blue flames to get to the woman. Florence pondered the relation between the two. Not for long tho, for she had a man to incarcerate if possible.

Florence ran down towards Theseus as Grindelwald increased the intensity of the fire. “Theseus, we need to get out of here or incarcerate that bastard before he destroys the entire city!” she withdrew her own wand from her inside her brassiere.

“Flo- we don’t know how” he yelled back, about to ask her what in the world she was doing there but then, swiftly changing his mind. 

More aurors fell around the stone steps, trying to outrun death but failing miserably.

“Mister Scamander! Do you think Dumbledore will mourn for you?”Grindelwald's voice sounded like a whisper amongst the roaring of the flames swirling around their ears, but ut also sounded plain, unimportant, powerful and strong too. Newt appeared in front of Theseus and Florence, and she could hear the curses going off like fireworks inside of his head, ratting him out for the trouble he caused in New York the year before. He shot at the three of them, toppling them over and causing Florence’s back to collide with the stone steps, Theseus at her chest and Newt beside them. They shot back, orange flames rising up over them. She heard Leta’s voice calling out as they used all they could to protect themselves. Theseus’ back was pressed against Florence’s chest as they both directed their right arms above them. The flames stopped at Leta’s command and the three of them promptly got to their feet.

“Leta?” Florence began to confront the claws of the fire in an attempted to get to her dear friend, grunting and moaning as she felt burns litter her fit frame. Her hair had fallen from its orange bun and hung in messy waves like bodies of muggle criminals with rope at their necks. She watched at the purple dress Leta was wearing slipped over the grey stones as she took her steps down, useless in her attempt to reach her. She couldn’t hear Theseus and Newt fight their own ways to the two women, trying to save the last of the auror team.

“This one I believe I know. Leta Lestrange. Despised entirely by wizards, unloved, mistreated. Yet brave. So very brave. Time to come home.” He reached out his disgustingly pale hand to her’s, offering her nothing. She held his hand only for him to turn and extract the horrible thing. She turned to the three of them. The only people who would hold her close no matter what she did.

“I love you.” A simple sentence to say sorry and thank you for their friendship.

She raised her wand at the man before her. 

“Go! GO!” Leta shouted at Florence, urging her to get to some type of safety, but she ignored and desperately fought against the flames that were now surrounding her. They locked eyes as Leta's little body became grey confetti. Florence’s voice was growing more hoarse with each shout from her lungs, flinging her wand around only to watch her leave.

“NO! LETA!” she felt broad arms surround her and restrain her arms as she watched the purple dress became tiny flakes of ash that disappeared into the smoke-filled air. She continued to scream out profanities and words of hopelessness as Theseus disapparated the two of them into another section of the cemetery and she slumped down his frame onto the floor. She was too full of sudden lament to even notice the blue hue swirl around the air. Theseus pushed her back and covered her with his body before disapparating. She was confused for a moment as to why she couldn't pull herself together and help out with the fight going on, but by the time she had come to think of such actions, orange danced in the sky above her before silence kissed her ears.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Florence felt the same jumbled feeling she felt the last time she had sat in the Minister’s private office. Last time she had sat in this plum chair was on November 12th 1918. The day after the war had finished and the day after she had wondered throughout No Man’s Land to perform the funeral tradition of blessing the body in the wizarding world. All that fighting and death, coming to what felt like nothing. She had convinced them to send her out at the beginning of the war, arguing that they needed more aurors and that they had none. She was only twenty tears old and not even an auror, but had exceptional results from Hogwarts and they had no other options. That was when she met the Scamander boys, now her Scamander boys, fighting alongside each other with the muggles. All of them had taken an Unbreakable Vow promising that they would not ever tell anyone that the wizarding community had helped, and it was the same for all countries involved.

“Flossie?” She barely heard Newt in her trance-like state and was unable to reply, her mind mixing the old and new; old and new deaths, old and new memories, old and new emotions. They all sat in a row of plum, velvet armchairs in Fawley’s office as they waited. From Left to right it went Kama, Nagini, Jacob, Tina, Newt Florence and then Theseus. She could feel her boys touching her, trying to get her out of this lapse. She hadn't said anything to anyone accept a "let's go home" to Theseus once they had all gathered together and walked out of the cemetery. 

She had been retreating into her own world in her mind for as long as she could remember, questioning everything in her mind and out. But this time it was different. This time felt odd. Normally she questioned the world around her and how she could put it in her writing, for she was a private writer, and normally Theseus and Newt just let her. This time she was inside deeper than she had been for a long time, and the last time it hadn't ended well.

“Flo? Can you hear me?” It was Theseus’ voice now and she could just make out his tall form squatting in front of her and collecting her hands in his through her blurred vision. He held her cheek and stroked the skin above her left eyebrow - a place that always drew her back to reality. She lightly shook her head and blinked before settling her line of sight on Theseus. “Can you hear me Floss?” he asked again, concern coloured his face like a child's drawing. They had dealt with Florence drifting in and out of the world for years now, however, after what had happened many years ago, Theseus and Newt feared that one day they would never find her again.

“Ye-yeah, sorry.” She gave a weak smile before lolling sideways and resting her head on Newt’s shoulder. She didn’t notice the woman beside him, who had her own hand in his, tense and release herself from him. He gave a reassuring look to her and held her long and slender hand again, a conversation going on through their eyes. 

“Can you believe that it has been nearly ten years since we last sat in here?” she sighed, watching Theseus sit next to her. "Last time was at the end of the war. When we first got back. Remember?" she asked, her voice a hoarse whisper.

“It’s gone both quick and slow,” Newt admitted, placing his chin in top of her head. 

“Since when did you start pretending to be the big brother instead of the little brother?” she removed her head from under his, scrunching up her nose and looking at him curiously before smiling and ruffling his hair and settling his head on her own shoulder. She felt strong with one of their heads under hers rather than hers under theirs. “I’ve told you since the beginnin' of the war, Newt. Your real brother looks after the both of us and your pretend sister looks after you from ye real brother.” she laughed, nudging him slightly.

“I know, I know, leave me be. I'm allowed to look after you too though.” he sighed. 

“I’m confused.” came an American voice from further down the row. “You have a sister now?” 

Florence had been told the names of everyone with her but she couldn't remember them for the life of her. They all sat in ash-covered clothes, Florence’s left leg fully exposed by the tear in her dress, while everyone else had burn holes and messy hair. Newt had ash streaked across his nose and so she licked the pad of her thumb and began removing it as he explained to Jacob, and the woman beside him, who was glaring at Florence, the nature of their relationship.

“No, Jacob. We met Florence just before we were stationed at the Front during the war. The three of us have looked after each other ever since. She became the middle child of the Scamanders. I am the youngest, I’m thirty, while Flo is thirty-three, therefore the middle sibling. Theseus is the old man at thirty-eight. He stifled a giggle in Florence’s shoulder as Theseus whipped his head around to say something at Newt. She lightly slapped Newt's shoulder, knowing how annoying the rivalry between the two could get. She didn't have the energy to stop a physical fight between the two for the favourite child prize.

"I am their pretend sister," Florence said, nudging Theseus to tell him to quit glaring at his little brother. "When the war started we were assigned 'pals' to look after. I got these two dimwits. Plus I'm Irish." Tina shrunk a little, after finding out the truth, in embarrassment, but quickly gathered herself as the door opened behind them and the meeting began.


	2. Chapter 2. Never Leaving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of the aftermath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of fluff for yall.

The meeting had gone as smoothly as it could have. The foreigners had been asked questions as to why they were here and why they were involved. Tina explained how she went rogue on her mission to kill Credence, admitting that she was planning to do everything in her power to bring Credence back to America and reunite him with his sister Modesty, who had proven to be a witch and was now enrolled in her first year of Ilvermorny. At thirteen, Modesty should have been in her second year, but due to missing her first year, she was kept back. Tina had filled in and became a mother to her during the months since first finding her. Jacob explained his connections to Tina, with his being a muggle and all. Nagini and Kama didn’t have much to say, therefore leaving plenty of time for the Minister to scold Newt about leaving the country. 

“Honestly, Scamander, why can you not just cooperate?” Fawley sighed, shaking his head and looking up to the ceiling, praying for something up there to sort out all of his problems.

Newt, being thoroughly tired of people telling him what he could and couldn’t do, and tired from the long few days of trying to find Tina and Queenie, resorted to his sarcastic self which only made an appearance to those closest to him.”I really don’t know, maybe I’ll ask myself.”

“Newt-” Florence started, rolling her eyes so hard that she thought they could have fallen out. 

“No! I’m getting sick of this!” He huffed, raising his arms and letting them fall back onto his tights with a _smack_. “What was it that I did that was so bad? Yes, my creatures escaped and caused a little bit of a disturbance, but A) they have not been tamed and they have their own minds just as we do, B) if they had not of escaped, I would have not met Tina and therefore CATCH FUCKING GRINDELWALD! LETA AND YOUR AURORS DIED FOR YOU!” He shouted at the Minister and for a second it took Florence and Theseus back to the time Newt shouted at their old commander to not send out some of the men unless they wanted to end the war on a loss. They watched as he stood from his chair and forcefully opened the door to storm out, letting it close loudly behind him.

“I will go and talk to him,” Tina muttered, quietly making her own way out while Theseus buried his head in his hands and Florence glared butcher knives at Fawley. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Newt! Newt!” Tina called, running down the corridor to reach the messy-haired man who marched ahead of her. He came to a stop and she watched him take a deep breath before turning around to talk to her. “Talk to me,” she begged, standing in his personal space which he wasn’t as uncomfortable with as he normally would have been. The night in Paris, in the cemetery, had altered something between them. She was so cold to him when he first found her, cold like the sun. You would think that, wouldn't you, the sun can't be cold. But like ice, you can't hold it even when you want to. You flinch away when you do. Eventually, the ice thaws and you can hold it in the palm of your hand, and you can feel this unknown warms seeping into you. Now, she had thawed without him needing to help thaw her.

“I’m sorry, Tina. They have been pissing me off this past year by not letting me come and see you.” He told her, searching her eyes for something to tell him that she understood. “I’m just so tired of it all and everything that happened tonight, to you, to Leta. I just want to take you all home, give you some dinner and make sure you are all comfortable. Possibly just have you to myself in my basement. There is a little nook that I made for myself when I first moved in. It is just full of books, pillows and blankets. I just want to see you and talk to you like normal people would.” He had a solemn look in his eyes as he brushed back her hair behind her ear. 

“Come here,” she whispered, pulling him into her arms and settling into the crook of his neck, holding him tight as he reciprocated. “I am here now, and it might not have been the way we planned, but I'm are here.” She sniffed a little and his hand came up to the back of her head to cradle her closer, pressing a kiss to her dark, short hair that had begun to curl. "But remember, nothing is normal. What is normal, if not just a silly concept silly people came up with."

“I’m not leaving you this time,” it was a small whisper, almost unheard, but heard at the loudest volume at the same time. "I'm not letting anyone else leave."

“You don’t have a choice, that's what we where reminded of tonight. It will be me leaving next, with Jacob.” she sighed, pulling back and resting her hands around his neck while his went to her waist. They didn't question anything and neither did the spirits wandering around them. 

“Don’t leave. Stay here.” he pleaded, his eyes filling up with tears at the thought of the two of them being separated yet again with no logical explanation.

“I have to Newt. Madame President will want to see me, I have my apartment to pay rent to, Modesty will be coming home soon for Christmas. I can’t leave.” she mumbled, wiping the tears from his cheeks. 

“You never did tell me about Modesty.” his sniffed, returning the gesture of wiping her tears. 

“I didn’t know what you would think. Not many people like single mothers. And while technically she is not mine, it does look like I have a child from a one night stand or something.”

“I wouldn’t have minded. Not one bit. That is what I love about you, Tina, you are not scared of the consequences of your actions when you know that it is for the good. How about you bring her over here, she can go to Hogwarts, or even stay at Ilvermorny and come here for the holidays. I won’t let you go to America by yourself.” He held her close again as she began to cry, her shoulders bouncing at the power of her sobs.

“I can’t bring her into this, Newt. She has already suffered so much.” she whimpered.

“I know, love, but she is already involved. I don't want to use her, but we might need her to get Credence back. She will be safe with us. I promise with every bit of my heart.” he pulled her closed to her.

“Alright. I will write to her and MACUSA. See if we can go and get her. Jacob will need to go and sort out his bakery anyway.” 

This was something new, this sudden intimacy born out of a common and shared grief. It shouldn't have taken something so traumatic to finally make the two of them handle each other in such a matter. But at least they were finally together.

“Everything alright now?” The pulled apart at the sound of Florence's voice and found her walking towards them with the Theseus close behind. Her bright hair was still in rats tails and blowing behind her along with her dress, but her face had changed from the tired softness from before into a serious stone.

“Kind of,” they replied together, hands slipping away from each other like tectonic plates.

“Good. Newt? The Minister has agreed to drop your travel ban. Theseus will discuss what is going to happen from now on once we can all deal with it. Meanwhile, take everyone home with you and settle down for the night. We won’t be active against Grindelwald for a while. We will meet at your house in the morning, we have a certain professor to visit.” Florence told him, her auror personality making an appearance to deliver the news. She gave a quick nod to Theseus and began walking to her office. 

“What are you two going to do now?” Newt called after them, hand in hand with Tina.

“We have paperwork to finish from another case. We will call in the morning,” she replied, opening the door for Theseus who slipped in. “Goodnight all. Just keep an eye out,” she told them, slipping in through the door herself.

"Florence?" Her head popped back out at the sound of Newt's voice calling her back. "Tá tú sábháilte cúlú." She gave a single nod before disappearing as Leta did. New squeezed Tina’s hand and told everyone to follow him to the fireplaces to floo home. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“God, it's been too long of a day.” Florence huffed, collapsing into the nearest chair by the door, rubbing her face with her hands. She immediately jumped back up when she realised that she sat on Theseus’ lap. True, they had been close for so many years, but it was a different kind of closeness. They didn’t see each other as pretend siblings, but not just as friends either. There had been several occasions where they had woken up tangled in each other’s limbs after one too many drinks. That had stopped just over four years ago after they said that they were work colleagues and couldn't continue. Scarring was the more subtle word to use to describe the healing process afterwards. It had been slightly awkward ever since, especially whenever they were left alone, scared that without any guardians they would be at each other in a matter of seconds. “Sorry! I-I didn’t realise that you had sat down there.” she stuttered, sitting in the chair behind her desk that was a safe distance away. 

“E-ehm it's ok,” Theseus replied, straightening his soot-covered tie. 

That sat in silence for a few minutes, individually going through the past twenty-four hours. “You should go home Theseus, Jane will be worried sick,” Florence mumbled as she shifted through the paperwork on her desk. Theseus had started seeing a Jane Marlow a few months ago, and from what she could tell it was going well. 

“N-no, no I should help you.” He started but was interrupted.

“Just go home Theseus. I don’t mind doing it myself.” She didn’t meet his eye and started working on the first file.

He watched her for a moment. "Flo you can't work after zoning out like that in the Minister's office. Go home or let me help you." He didn't get a response and so he left, leaving her office, lingering at the door for a second when he didn’t get a goodbye. He knew he should have been wanting to get home to his partner, and part of him did, but a larger part of him wanted to collect Florence in his arms and hold her tight after watching what she went through tonight. Oh, everything had to be fucked up didn't it. Couldn't just be simple.

He sighed as he unlocked the door to his partner’s flat, having chosen to walk home to give him time to think. He heard Jane, a young blonde of thirty-four, shuffle from their bedroom and into the hallway to greet him. 

“Theseus? Is that you?” she called.

“Yes, it’s me,” he called back, not even taking his coat off, just standing at the door, He'd have to end it tonight.

“How did it go. The raid,” she asked. She had a soft accent that seemed to go to be true. Florence had a little kick to her voice with didn't send him into fantasy. Florence's voice grounded him while Jane's didn't. 

“Shit. He is coming after me and the others who were involved. I can’t keep you safe anymore Jane.” He whispered, holding her hands in his. This wasn’t what he was planning to say tonight, but he knew that he couldn’t stay with Jane any longer. It wasn’t fair for her to not have his whole heart.

“What are you talking about Theseus?” she asked, her brows furrowed and her teeth worrying at her lips.

“I'm saying that, right now, I am leaving you in order to keep you safe. Grindelwald is after me and I cannot drag you into this. And you are going to abide by this. You are going to meet a man who has your heart fully and is never going to leave you. I leave you too often, Jane, I’m so sorry.” he kissed her hairline and wiped the tears that had fallen onto her cheeks. 

“I understand. Thank you Theseus,” she whispered, drawing him into a tight embrace before pulling away and returning to her room. He watched her go, then turned around to walk out the door. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Florence had not even had the chance to finish the first sheet of paperwork before the Minister walked by her office and forced her to go home. She quickly packed up and flooed to her flat in Camden, where not even five minutes later the doorbell rang. She checked the watch on her wrist: two in the morning. Who would be knocking at her door at two in the morning? She drew her wand with the Stunning curse at her lips. She unlocked the door to find Theseus there. 

“Fucking hell, Thee! You scared the living daylights out of me! What are you doing here?” she asked, pushing him in through the door and locking it. 

“I left Jane, it's too dangerous to stay with her. Have nowhere to go.” He mumbled, falling onto the navy blue, velvet couch beneath the window of the fourth-floor window of the Georgian-house-turned-flats.

“You have Newt’s place, your place, your parents. Why come to mine, I have nowhere for you to sleep.” she told him, switching on the lamp beside his head to wake him up after he started to nod off from exhaustion. He reached up and pulled her by the waist so that they were both lying on the navy blue couch, her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms tight around her waist and his legs knotted around her own. She gasped as she fell and tried to sit herself up, but the bloody man was too strong. “Theseus, you know we can't do this.”She mumbled into the fabric of his suit, cursing herself for how good it felt after four years to be wrapped up in his arms again.

“Just for tonight, Flo. Nobody has to know.” Morpheus had arrived quickly and had sent Theseus to sleep before turning on Florence, allowing her to have the first full night's sleep since she was twenty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I hope everything is going ok for you all.
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated! xxx


	3. Chapter 3. Time to sleep if we can.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some bad language and adult things*
> 
> Here is a lil filler chapter because I'm too tired to do a whole chapter. I'm sorry xx

Tired feet and half-asleep bodies were dragged up the steps of a townhouse a little after 1 am, into the terribly small flat Newt Scamander owned. "There is food in the kitchen, just through there if you would like any. Tina, would you mind helping me build some rooms for everyone?" Newt asked as they all took off their coats and stood in the small living room. The walls were white, crumbling plaster and the old carpet that must have been on the floor had been removed to reveal old Georgian floorboards. A plain single bed slept in the corner, under the window that looked out onto the cobbled street, that in turn looked back into the flat. The lit fireplace offered some much-needed warmth to the sofa that sat in front. Through an archway that was carved into the wall lay a round dining table with three chairs around it and the leftovers of a meal. Past the dining room was a pantry and a pathetic kitchen that looked like it served no use but to offer someone a laugh. 

"Of course," she muttered, well past tired. They transfigured two rooms, one for Kama and Jacob and another for Tina and Nagini. Nobody went to get any food, instead, they all gave a little goodnight before retreating into their own personal hell, leaving just Tina and Newt. 

"What do you think of Nagini?" Tina asked, settling down on Newt's single couch whilst he heated the kettle on the stove as a muggle would. 

"She's a maladictus, so I find her interesting as anyone would. But I mainly feel sorry for her. She doesn't even know who we are, but she's stuck with us and just followed. Like a lost puppy, I guess." the kettle started to whistle and he flicked his wand towards it to shut it up and pour him a cuppa. One for Tina too. He lounged back next to her and passed her the boiling liquid in the little teacup.

"Hmm, she does give that impression. I hope from now on though, we can look after her and protect her." Tina replied, sipping her tea slowly and drawing her legs up on to the sofa. 

"As much as this is going to be difficult, I think we will be able to also find a lot of joy in it. Even if we don't win against him, he can never remove our happiness. We'll create memories with each other, and hold them tight. By doing that, by having our humanity, we win anyway." Newt told her, watching her as she watched him. "I'm sorry about Queenie. I'd say more, but I don't think anything I say will make it better."

"It's alright, it hasn't truly hit me yet. It will, and when it does it will hit like a bullet. But I'll find a way of dealing with it. I feel horrible saying it, but I've already lost people. It's almost become normal now. I haven't spoken to Queenie in a few months. That postcard you told me about was the first communication we had in six months. I'm also sorry about Leta."

"I'm thinking the same. I'm hurt by what happened to Leta. But we hadn't spoken for years except for a few words here and there. I'll grieve, eventually, but it seems wrong." He told her. She had moved her legs onto his and he was rubbing the skin on her ankle.

"I was given the impression that you two were close. Queenie told me that you had a photograph of her in your hut when we first met."

"We were close. And I did have a photograph of her. But it was all complicated. I was expelled from school when I was seventeen. I was in my second to last year of Hogwarts. Leta and I had found a Jarvey and she set it loose around the school. Naturally, I took the blame. Normally Leta would have shared the blame, but we had been having more arguments around that time and she didn't say anything. Leta was my only friend and I thought that by having the photograph, it would prompt me to fix our friendship. We never did." He finished his story by downing the rest of his tea and set the teacup aside with a deep sigh. Tina did the same.

"I couldn't imagine that. I am still in contact with my old friends. There was only ever four of us, but we became friends on the basis of loss. We had all lost someone and were to only ones in our years what had no home to go to at Christmas or summer. They are all over America, and we don't see each other often, but we write all the time. I'm truly sorry that you never had that." She fiddled with her fingernails subconsciously as she spoke.

"I'm imagining a very studious little Tina in my mind, teacher's pet. Very different to me." Newt mused to her. 

"Oh God no!" she chuckled, watching Newt raise his eyebrows in shock. "Nah, I was good with the teachers, but I broke some rules. Still, do I think."

"No, really?" he watched her with a fond admiration and interest, nothing she'd had before.

"Oh yeah. Let me think," She rested her arm on the back of the couch and placed her pale face onto her open palm. "We used to climb up on to the highest turret that overlooked the mountain valley, and we could jump down and see who could get as close to the bottom as possible before disapparating back to the top."

"No! That sounds horrifying!" He looked genuinely terrified which set Tina off giggling again.

"Yup, very dangerous too. I don't know how none of us died. We would get splinched every so offered but it was never anything serious." she told him, a reminiscent look in her eyes as she smiled.

"That will be why you are so good at disapparating. What would you do during the summer?" he kept quiet for his new roommates through the new doors, but loud enough for her to ponder at his question and try to pull up some memories.

"Hmm. Have you ever heard of those secret festivals? The ones in America?"

"The illegal ones? With all the crazy music and crazy people?" He leaned forward, not believing what he was hearing. Surely she was about to lie and tell him that she had to shut loads of them down.

"Yeah, once we turned sixteen, we were allowed to leave school grounds during holidays. We lied and said that Oliver's grandparents came for us all and travelled all over the place going to those festivals. It was me, Ebba, Oliver and Harrison. I know I don't seem like a very fun person, too serious and all, but I can have fun."

"Yes, you are serious, but I never doubted that you never have fun. Although I'm surprised that law-abiding Tina Goldstein went around doing illegal things. That's normally me."

"I did and I do not regret it. One of my friends went into photography and filmmaking within our world, so there are little films about our time galavanting. Also, play the guitar." she chuckled, getting sleeper by the minute. 

"You can tell me in the morning, come here," Newt whispered after she yawned, holding out his hand for her. She took it and eventually was snuggled into his chest and fell asleep rather quickly. Newt didn't sleep as quickly and took the time to analyse her relaxed face before succumbing to sleep himself. Propriety be damned.

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Florence felt like her whole spine had become one long stone over the long hours that she had slept. She mustered a quiet and tired groan and wriggled her hips slightly to loosen them up before she got up. She stopped when a hand moved to rest on her right hip and a deep sign rattled around the top of her head like a halo. Her eyes snapped open and her first sight was a creased shirt collar. Moving her forested eyes up, she spotted dark curls falling over the forehead of the only man she had ever loved. Trailing her eyes down his freckled face, she caught is own swamp-like eyes. 

"Morning." he greeted in a deeper than usual voice caused by lack of use from sleep. He closed his eyes again and planted a kiss to her head in the hope that it would grow roots down into her heart. She buried her face into his chest and moaned again at her mistake, shuffling once more. _Shuffling to get comfy eh Flo?_ She thought to herself. It was a mistake to continue lying down on Theseus but she indulged just this once. Death had given her a patronising pant on the head last night and she wanted to shake it off. She continued to shuffle to reclaim the feeling in her legs and relieve the stiffness in her spine but another hand stopped her at her hips. 

"Continue doing that and I'm going to get hard a lot quicker than I already am," Theseus mumbled with his eyes closed. 

"Jesus Christ." Florence moaned into his chest, feeling something hard between her legs. 

"Wouldn't moan wither love. Unless you really want to."He whispered in her ear.

"We are not having sex, Thesus. We stopped years ago." Florence firmly said, pulling herself up, accidentally straddling Thesus before leaping off into the kitchen behind his head. 

"Right, sorry." He breathed, sounding disappointed before sitting up and covering his lap with the cushion at the end of his feet. He looked around her flat, observing all the changes that had occurred. It was a simple rectangle, the living area being closest to the door, the kitchen/dining room further down and a double bed behind a screen next to it. The walls were now a deep burgundy and old bookshelves littered the walls and other piles of books were all over the floor. The kitchen was how it was before and so was the bed from what he could see through the screen. 

"I'm sorry Theseus, but I can't. Everything has gone to shit and you've just left Jane, we are not that low". Her voice had lapped into a deeper Irish than last night due to the sleep. "Tea?" she asked, changing the subject.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you soo much for reading, I love you.  
> Stay safe during this pandemic. Stay indoors unless you really have to go out, and if you do have to go out, please wear a flipping mask! Let's keep each other safe xx


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